Media falsely attacks 3d printing again

Media Blames about 3D printer dangers once again.

The staff at 3dprinterchat.com would like to offer condolences to the friends and family of this tragedy. I hope your family will heal.

Sigh… Here we go again. People wonder why no one trusts the news anymore. I’m scrolling through my facebook feeds and found this lovely piece of journalism from nydailynews about 3D printing dangers. The article being titled “Couple found dead in Berkeley home killed by carbon monoxide leaking from 3-D printer”. This is total clickbate (me commenting on clickbate The irony does not escape me) but hear me out. This wasn’t done for fun it was done to bring in views at the expense of a deceased couple that by all accounts were good people. Add to that the fact that this article and several others are completely miss informed and it’s just terrible journalism. It doesn’t seem like a month goes by without another media scare about 3D printing dangers. Some are like this where they are just trying to get views but most are straight out lies in an attempt to push the anti 3d printing agenda.

Call them out.

I know it’s hard not to click on articles like this but we need to call people out when they are willing to walk over people to get a story. I know my writing can be clickbaity but it’s always in good fun. when articles like this pop up we need to stamp them down. If they are true we need to help spread the word. If something is actually causing deaths then it needs to be known but this is a case where both are kinda true so let me help you with the facts.

Just the facts

All sources will be linked at the end. I combed through every article on the topic and even tried to contact the family and friends. The family could not be reached for comment and neither could any of the writers of the articles. I can understand the family not being available they have too much on their minds right now. So here is what we know for a fact.

Monday afternoon first responders found Roger, Valerie and their 2 cats dead of unknown causes. An autopsy was performed and as of Wednesday cause of death is still unknown. That is as far as confirmable facts go at this time. None of the Articles posted from their home city even mentioned 3d printers or “Laser 3d Printers”. When questioned about smells coming from the house officer Byron White had this to say.

White also responded to media inquiries about a neighbor’s report of the sound of a generator and an odor of burning rubber coming from the couple’s fourplex in the 3000 block of Deakin Street.

White said the police department received a noise complaint on Sept. 22, 2015, and when a police officer later contacted the complainant about the issue, the generator was no longer running.

White said the city of Berkeley has not received any similar complaints about the couple’s apartment.

It would seem a safe bet that factors outside of “3d printers are probably to blame then.

Media Lies about 3D printing dangers

Let’s get down to it then. With no mention of any type of 3d printer or laser cutter from the first articles on the subject, it comes as no shock that later articles embellished and outright lied about 3D printing dangers. If I was to venture a few guesses. They may have owned a 3d printer or more likely a Laser cutter because they keep saying Laser 3d printer. If they had one in the house without ventilation or a co2 detector. Then under a long enough operation without venting their home, they could have poisoned themselves. But the family has yet to comment on whether or not they had one. Once again we have a case where the media took threads of a story and wove a rug of lies. My thoughts go out to the family but they should be angry at the media for using this as another chance to spread lies.

I'm a tinkerer at heart. Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I was Born with a ratchet in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. Needless to say, the doctors had questions for my mother. I love RC,3d printing and well just about everything electronic. Most days though I'm just a Mad Engineer.

If you mean my article I am sorry. My intent with this article is to shed light on the fact that quite a few websites are using this as an excuse to get views and offer links to the truth and their gofundme. There is a link to the original article in the first paragraph but I didn’t make it noticeable because I didn’t want to spread there BS.

The media demonizes those things that decrease our dependence upon the system and their reporting is not based on fact, but rather on monetary gain and will spin a story to protect their profits. This is why we do not see reports about Monsanto or any corporation that is committing atrocious acts against us and the planet.
Peace!

This was really interesting. I feel so bad for the couple that died and their families for the way they were used by the journalists trying to pump out a story. The lying and embellishment is something that should keep them out of the business! Especially since it involves the manner of death. It’s one thing for us (people who love 3D printing) and it’s another thing for the public (reading someone’s lie for self-promotion)…I hope these people got called out publicly and are now out of the news business! I have to admit I would have second thought getting into 3D printing if I were to have read their articles before I learned about the hobby first hand. But I’m sure these articles swayed more than a few minds away from 3D printing and that’s just sad!! Journalists have a lot of power in the world! Maybe more than they should have. But it’s been that way since the invention of the printing press. We just need to change the way we take everything they say as the truth!

This article came up in my list of suggested posts on the home page. I think it still holds true a year later. It’s a hard line to walk. I certainly don’t want to give click bait articles any of my clicks, but you are right that we also need to fight them with facts.